A league source confirmed that $2.6 million of New Orleans Saints safety Roman Harper's salary became guaranteed on the third day of the league year last month, which was reported by ESPN.com. Obviously that makes a big difference when speculating on Harper's job security.

Harper is due a total salary of $5.25 million this year, plus another $100,000 roster bonus. So the Saints could still save $2.65 million if they released him. But that option now seems less likely since they have already made such a financial commitment to him - even though they did just draft a potential replacement in first-round draft pick Kenny Vaccaro.

Harper's salary-cap figure this year is $7.1 million (his salary, roster bonus and $1.75 million in pro-rated portion of his signing bonus). If the Saints release him, he will count $4.35 million against this year's cap, plus another $1.75 million against next year's cap (the remaining pro-rated portion of his signing bonus).

(NOTE: If this year's workout bonus counts as extra, on top of the guaranteed salary, then he would cost the Saints $4.45 million against the cap this year).

I apologize that we were unaware of the change to Harper's contract until now. Since the guarantee didn't kick in until mid-March, it was not listed on the contract information we had on Harper. But I know some readers had seen reports of Harper having $6.1 million in remaining cap costs instead of just $3.5 million, and I had incorrectly been "correcting" them. So feel free to sound off on me in the comments stream!

We really do all try to be as accurate as possible with our reporting on such issues. But obtaining detailed contract information can sometimes be tricky - and details can sometimes change without being reported right away (which is why I always try to steer clear of doing the salary-cap math myself).

I still think it's possible that the Saints could consider releasing Harper if he doesn't figure to play a prominent role on the team this year. But I know the Saints remain hopeful that he will benefit greatly from the switch to defensive coordinator Rob Ryan.

Harper, 30, was a two-time Pro Bowler under former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, when he was used often as a blitzer and attacker. Last year, Harper's struggles in deep pass coverage were exaggerated when he wasn't a good fit for coordinator Steve Spagnuolo's system.

The Saints are hoping that most of last year's struggles can be attributed to the poor scheme fit - and not the signal of a major decline in skill. But they'll continue to evaluate that as the offseason goes on.